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Thursday, April 7, 2011

Be Still and Know (Part I - Transformation Series)

This week about thirty larvae arrived in the mail. Weird as it sounds, I actually ordered some insects to be delivered to our home. It's the best science experiment, and an inspiring visual life lesson. Over the next three weeks, my kids will care for these vulnerable creatures until they grow and become butterflies and ladybugs. Though they arrived as earth-bound crawlers, they will soon have wings and take flight, leaving the safety of their tiny home for a world unexplored.Imagine that! From crawling the ground to flying ... what a transformation!

...to winged butterfly!

From earth-bound crawler...

I love to recognize that it is even possible for a creature to change in such fundamental ways. For now, these critters are mostly about one thing: eating! They eat, they rest, and in almost perfect stillness, they grow. These first three days they've been so still that we've often wondered if they're alive, but they are. They apparently need to be still, and they seem adept at listening to their body's needs. As they grow, they rest. They have no problem being still.

Humans are a different story. Inner stillness can be such a challenge for us in the 21st century. We are so complex, so sophisticated. We are technologically advanced, and we wants things now! We are very good at the moving part and the eating part, but we're awful at any kind of waiting and inner stillness. And it's a shame, because God often speaks to us precisely as we become still.

The prophet Elijah experienced this. When he tried to escape the world and hid in a cave, he did not hear God's voice in the wind, in an earthquake or in the power of fire. God's voice came to Elijah as a "gentle whisper." And as soon as he recognized God's voice, things began to turn around for the prophet, who gained a fresh understanding of his purpose and God's sovereignty. (1 Kings 19)

Psalm 46:10 says, Be still and know that I AM God. Elijah's experience teaches us that we must be attentive to God's voice and careful to seek silence and stillness, that we may hear God's gentle whispers.

So here's the question for us. Do we have the humility to learn
—
even from crawling critters
—
to be still, to rest, to wait? If we do, perhaps we, too, will go through our own transformation. Perhaps we, too, will be given our own set of wings.

2 comments:

Yes, Dr. Mari... it is all about waiting on a trustworthy, compassionate and infinitely wise God. Interestingly enough, we were in the same Spirit as I gave my insight on this Scripture from a very personal perspective. Thanks so much for sharing!Maribel

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